THE REV- JAMES LONG AND PROTESTANT MISSIONARY POLICY IN BENGAL, 18^0-1872
Thesis submitted for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in the
University of London fcy
GEOFFREY ARCHDALL ODDIE
School of Oriental and African Studies January 196*+
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Abstract
This thesis is a study, against the background of Protestant missionary thinking and activities in Bengal from 18*4-0 to 1872, of the career of the Rev. James Long, a controversial Protestant missionary, educationist, linguist and social reformer, and a figure widely respected among Indians. Initially, attention is focussed on Long's
educational background, on his motives in becoming a mission
ary and on his reasons for joining the Church Missionary Society in 1838. His early experience of missionary work in Calcutta, which largely accounts for his reaction against Dr. Duff's system of education through English, is considered.
Particular attention is paid to Long's career from 1850 to 1861. During this period his originality clearly emerges:
he became involved in the indigo and other controversies and his work was crowned with considerable achievement. His activities in vernacular education, his concern with the
training of converts and the development of Bengali churches, his literary and social activities and his enthusiasm for
social reform are all discussed in the broad context of Protestant missionary thinking and policy; and an attempt
is made to show how his activities and particular point of view affected his relations with other missionaries, as well as with other Europeans and the Bengali community. The
significance of the indigo dispute, the events leading up to Long's trial and imprisonment in 1861 and reactions to the Nil Darpan case in India and England have also been
considered. In the latter part of the thesis closer atten
tion is paid to Long's basic objectives. In the l850's he became increasingly involved in activities which he regarded as preparation for missions rather than in evangelism itself.
Fis philosophy of missions had, in fact, been changing ever since the l8W0fs and, by 1872, his concept of the missionary's task in India was somewhat different from what was generally accepted by other missionaries, who paid greater attention to evangelism in their own day and generation.
I wish to thank especially my supervisor Dr.- K.A.Ballhatchet for his sympathetic help and encouragement. Thanks are also due to Mr, Martin Moir of the India Office Library, to Miss Rosemary Keen, archivist of the to Mrs. B.A.English at Harewood and to many other librarians and
archivists who have assisted me in my work. The Central Research Funds Committee of the University generously financed my research in Edinburgh and, last but not least, I wish to acknowledge my wife's assistance in proof-reading.
Contents
List of Abbreviations page 6
Introduction 7
I James Long: Background, Education
and Early Years in Bengal, 1815-1850- 32
II Vernacular Education, 1850-1861 70
III The Indigenous Churches and the Problems
of Growth, 1850-1861. 158
IV Vernacular Literature, Intellectual and
Social Activities, 1850-1861 19*+
V The Indigo Question and the Nil Darpan
Episode, 1850-1861 2^1
Part I. Missionaries and Planters
in the 1850!s 2*+l
Part II. The Nil Darpan and the
Trial of Long for libel 282 Part III.Reactions to the Nil Darpan
case 302
VI The Closing Years 3?^
Conclusion U17
Bibliography *+39
Maps
B.M.
C.C.-
c.v.;
C.M..
C.M.
C. of F.C.
G.R.:
H.C.
H.P.
L.M.
M.M.
S.P.
S.P.
Abbreviations
Baptist Missionary Society Calcutta Christian Observer
.S. Christian Vernacular Education Society Church Missionary Record
Church Missionary Society S. Church of Scotland
of S. Free Church of Scotland
•I. General Reports of Public Instruction (Lower Provinces)
Harewood Collection Halifax Papers
London Missionary Society Methodist Missionary Society
.K. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
in Foreign Parts.
Introduction
This thesis is partly an attempt to explore the aims and ideas and assess the significance of the Rev*
James Long - perhaps one of the most remarkable mission
aries ever sent out to the mission field by the Church Missionary Society*
While Long is best known as an outspoken opponent of the indigo planting system in Bengal in the late
1850’s and early 1860’s and as the defendant in one of the most famous trials in modern Indian history (the Nil D a m a n case), his importance does not lie merely in his connection with the indigo controversy.
Long did not, like his friend Dr. Alexander Duff, pioneer important new methods of evangelism or exercise a profound influence over the thinking of his mi ssLonary colleagues. As one of his teachers once remarked he was ’’undoubtedly original.” His views were perhaps even more unorthodox than Duff’s had been in the 1830’s, but, unlike Duff, he never captured the imagination of his colleagues or completely satisfied their doubts as to his real value as a Christian missionary by making dramatic conversions to Christianity. But although he made little impression on the thinking and outlook of
/
other Protestant missionaries in Bengal he exercised considerable influence over Government officials in
India and over C.M.S. officials in England. And even before his trial and imprisonment, which, from the Indian point of view, seems to have made him na saint and h ero," he was popular and well received by the
educated as well as by the lower sections of the Indian population.
Other historians have noted Longfs scholarly interests and, in particular, his contribution to
vernacular literature. Eugene Stock, the historian of the C.M.S., comments, for example, on Longrs ability to communicate ideas through the vernacular and claims that
"no man has ever succeeded better in getting — to use
1
.
a colloquial phrase — at the back of the people*s minds."
He also draws attention to LongTs qualities as a Christian pastor and to his work in sociology. But what is most remarkable, is that even Stock omits to mention one of the greatest of all Long*s achievements — his work in vernacular education.
During at least part of the period he spent in India, Long was a controversial figure, and historians have tended to treat his career from markedly different points of view. Stock, who has given one of the fullest
1. E.Stock The History of the Church Missionary Society, vol. II, London 1899, p.271 .
accounts of Long's activities, examines his career from the missionary point of view and gives an extremely
2
sympathetic account of his work. J.Martineau, the biographer of Sir Bartle Frere, tends to reflect an official or Government view of Long's trial and implies that the planters' proceedings against him were
essentially unfair. He claims that the trial was ndisgracefully conducted" and the judge "outrageously
3
partial." On the other hand, Arthur Mayhew, in his Christianity and the Government of India, if anything, echoes the planters' arguments and claims that Long was fined and imprisoned "for inflaming racial
4
feeling." More recently,N.S.Bose, an Indian historian who is particularly concerned with Long's involvement in the indigo dispute, refers sympathetically to his activities and reminds his readers that Long's name became a household word. 5
Long cannot be properly understood out of the context in which he lived and he is important not only
2. E.Stock, vol. II, pp.76-77, 271-272.
3. J.Martineau The Life and Correspondence of Sir Bartle Frere. vol. I, London 1895, pp. 365-^362.
4. A.Mayhew Christianity and the Government of India, London 1929, p.210.
5. N.S.Bose The Indian Awakening and Bengal, Calcutta 1960, pp.167-168, 222.
because of what he himself achieved, but because his career raises important issues, throws light on the relation between missionaries on the one hand and Government officials, non-official Europeans and
Bengalis on the other, and reveals a great deal about missionary thinking and strategy during the period
1840 to 1872. Hence this thesis is both a study of the Rev. James Long and of important aspects of Protestant missionary policy in Bengal during the period he was working in the Presidency. The two
subjects are not separate entities, but an indivisible part of one context in which Long himself is the
centre — the focal point of attention. Long had extraordinary zeal and energy, and a ranging probing, restless mind which reacted quickly to new ideas and situations. Like some of his colleagues, he talked a great deal about his profession, wrote numerous articles on a wide variety of subjects and produced a considerable amount of correspondence which remains in the C.M.S. archives. He expressed an opinion on almost every important issue raised in connection with missionary work during this period and, by con
centrating on his thought and activities the historian is quite naturally plunged into almost all the major conflicts and discussions of missionary objectives
and policy which took place during this period. He finds himself almost inevitably listening in to the missionary debates and involved in an examination of missionary views on strategy, the relative merits of preaching and education, social reform, the indigenous churches, non-Christian religions, Indian culture and a great number of other important topics which
missionaries discussed among themselves*
While there are a number of well known general works which deal with Protestant missionary history in India such as Richterfs A History of Missions in India and Sherring’s A History of Protestant Missions in India, Protestant missionary policy in Bengal has not received much detailed attention, in spite of the fact that Bengal was an area of intensive missionary
activity and experimentation. In a recent thesis entitled A Study of Missionary Policy and Methods in Bengal, 1795 to 1905. (which was in fact submitted for a degree in theology, not in history) Dr. V/.B.Davis attempted an overall survey of developments during
that period. Manuscript sources are largely ignored and the study is based almost entirely on published and secondary material. The treatment of various aspects of missionary policy, covering as it does more than a century, tends to be somewhat superficial
and the text is full of unquestioned assumptions and undocumented generalisations. Partly for these reasons
it cannot be considered a serious contribution to the understanding of Protestant missionary policy in Bengal during the nineteenth century and, in any case, because of the general nature of his work, Dr. Davis could not pay much detailed attention to the period 1840 to 1872 which comes within the scope of this thesis.
What is most noticeably lacking in all these studies, even in Richter's work, is any attempt to examine missionary aims or objectives. The general assumption that the ultimate aim of the missionaries was to convert the non-Christian population to
Christianity may be justified, and evidence in this thesis as well as from other sources tends to confirm that conclusion. But there has not even been an attempt to examine immediate aims and readers of missionary
history are left with the vague impression that the missionaries (a) were producing literature and training men (Indian converts) in preparation for future evangel
ism and (b) were themselves directly involved in
evangelism in the hope of making converts. There can be little doubt that Protestant missionaries in Bengal had both these objectives in mind, but this is an in
adequate interpretation and does not fit all the facts.
Why, for example, were the missionaries involved in social reform? Dr. Ingham who, in a recent hook, Reformers in India, discusses the part missionaries played in social reform in India during the period
1793 to 1833* scarcely attempts to answer the question.
He too seems to assume that everyone already knows what the missionaries were attempting to do and the reader is again left with little more than a vague impression — this time, that the missionaries were concerned with social justice and that their activities in social re
form had little to do with their ultimate objective of converting the non-Christian population to Christianity.
This thesis, which entails, among other things, an examination of missionary involvement in education and social reform, suggests that Protestant missionaries during the period under review did have at least one other important and immediate objective. They were deliberately attempting to change economic, social, intellectual and other conditions in an attempt to create an environment which they believed would be more conducive to the spread of Christianity. They took part in social reform and promoted education partly because they believed that these developments would make the people more responsive to Christian teaching, would break down prejudice, undermine
Hinduism and caste and, in other ways, prepare the way for the preacher.
Manuscript and published source materials forN this thesis were scattered but plentiful. The C.M.S.
archives contained much of the essential manuscript material, including Long's papers, but the archives of
other Protestant missionary societies which operated in Bengal, such as the B.M.S. and L.M.S., also contained useful sources. Dr. Duff's papers in Edinburgh, the Harewood collection in Yorkshire and the Halifax papers in the India Office library were consulted and were use
ful to a limited extent. A number of valuable official publications, such as the Report of the Indigo
Commission and the Bengal Government's Education Reports were also available in the India Office
library. Missionary periodicals published in Bengal or in England, such as the Calcutta Christian Observer and the Church Missionary Record, proved most useful*.
Newspapers, including Indian English-language publications, provided additional material, especially for the study
of reactions to Long's imprisonment, and memoirs and biography frequently contained information not avail
able elsewhere.
In 1840, the year in which Long arrived in
Calcutta, there were five Protestant missionary societies operating in Bengal. The oldest society, but not the first in the Bengal mission field, was the Anglican Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (S.P.O.). The other four were the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S,), which was also Anglican, the Baptist Missionary Society (B.M.S.), the London Mission
ary Society (L.M.S.), conducted by Independents, and the Church of Scotland Mission (C. of S . ) which entered the field in 1830.
The denominational differences which marked off the two Anglican societies on the one hand from the Nonconformist and Scottish societies on the other were sometimes less important than the differences in out
look and tradition which separated the High Church S.P.O.
from all the other societies (including the C.M.S.) which were younger, and grew out of the Methodist and Evangelical revival movements of the eighteenth century.
The missionaries in Bengal belonging to these younger
societies probably considered themselves as "Evangelicals"
6
and are best described as such. The term "Evangelical"
was generally used during the nineteenth century to
6. C.C.O.. vol. XVIII, February 1849* p. 77;
vol.XXXIII, April 1865, p.186; Calcutta Christian Intelligencer. December 1857, p.460; C.M.S.
CI1/0185/2 Long to Parent Committee, 13 April 1843.
describe those Protestants (Anglicans, Nonconformists and others) who believed that the essential part of the Gospel consisted in salvation by faith through the
atoning death of Christ and who denied that either good works or the sacraments had any saving efficacy. They usually believed in the infallibility and overriding importance of the Scriptures and were united in their stand against rationalism and the theories of
evolution which seemed to undermine the literal truth of the Bible. They were strongly anti-Catholic and feared the rapid spread of Tractarianism in the
7 1840's.
The S.P.G-. missionaries, on the other hand, were imbued with High Church principles and influenced
8
by the Tractarian movement, which emphasized some of the doctrines neglected by the Evangelicals and which stressed among other things, the importance of the
apostolic succession, the authority of the Church rather 9
than Scripture and the value of sacraments.
7. J.A.H.Hurray (ed.) Oxford English Dictionary.
Oxford 1933* vol. Ill; K.Heasman Evangelicals in Action: An Appraisal of their Social Hork in the Victorian E r a . London 1962, pp. 15-16;
E.Halevy A History of the English People in the Nineteenth Century. London 1961, vol.I, pp.436-433.
8. C.M.S. CI1/0185/1 Long to Coates, 15 October 1842 and CIl/0185/2 Long to Parent Committee, 15 April 1843.
9. Halevy, vol.IV, pp.353> 438; Y.Brilioth Three Lectures on Evangelicalism and the Oxford Move
ment , London 1934, pp.18, 44.; E.Stock A History of the Church Missionary Society, vol.I, p.288*
The Evangelical missionaries of different
denominations co-operated a good deal with each other, They preached in each other's chapels, examined each other's schools and met together for prayer and con-
10
sultation. But between these and the S.P.G. mission
aries there was very little communication or friendly feeling. The Evangelicals agreed among themselves not to intrude into each other's preserve and not to receive
11 enquirers or converts from other Evangelical societies.
But no such agreement was reached with the S.P.O. mission- 12
aries, who apparently asserted that "rone but episcopal- iz ordained persons" were "lawful ministers of Christ" rt.nd, by intruding into areas already occupied by Presbyterian and Nonconformist missionaries, caused considerable con-
13
fusion among their converts. Relations between the S.P.G. and Baptist missionaries, who frequently clashed in the villages south of Calcutta, were particularly bad and, although the Baptists complained of the difficult
ies caused by the S.P.G., the S.P.G. missionaries almost
10. C.C.O.. vol.XVIII, February 1849, p.78; G.Smith Life of Alexander Duff. London 1879, vol.I, p.129;
F.A.Cox History of the Baptist Missionary Society, London 1842, vol.II, p.294; Home and Foreign
Missionary Record. C.of S., 1848-50, vol.V, p.316.
11. J.Mullens Brief Memorials of the Rev.A.F.Lacroix.
London 1862, p.127.
12. Home and Foreign Missionary Record, C. of S., vol.I, October 1850, p,79.
13. L.M.S.Report. 1842, p.11; C.M.S. CIl/0185/1 Long to Coates, 15 October 1842; C.of S. Buff to Gordon, 1 July 1846; E.B.Underhill The Life of the Rev.
John Wenger. London 1886, p.132.
certainly made similar complaints about the Baptists*
The Rev. H.H.Sandel of the S.P.G., for example, refer
ring to one of his converts who had joined the Baptists, claimed that "of all the dissenters, the Baptists are foremost to receive converts and induce them by kind
14 treatment & worldly prosperity."
Although all five Protestant missionary societies had their headquarters in Britain, much of the administrat
ion was carried out through committees operating in the mission field. These were centred in Calcutta and those of the L.M.S., B.M.S. and Scottish mission were com
posed Tvholly, or in part, of missionaries, who thereby played an important part in the management of their own
15
affairs. However, few of the missionaries belonging to 16
the S.P.G. sat on their managing committee, (although there 17 was probably no objection to their doing so in principle)
and the C.M.S. missionaries had practically no say in the management of their mission. The local C.M.S.
Committee, the Calcutta Corresponding Committee,
14. S.P.G. E. MSS. 9 Sandel's Journal, 29 July 1861.
15. C.M.S. CIl/0185/145 Duff to Long, 15 April 1844;
CIl/0185/146 Wenger to Long, 2 April 1844;
CIl/0185/147 Boaz to Long, 17 April 1844.
16. Twelfth Report of the Calcutta Diocesan Committee of the S.P.G.* Calcutta 1841, and S.P.G.Reportt
1841 (list of missionaries).
17. Proceedings on the Pormation of a Diocesan
Committee for the Archdeaconry of Calcutta of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts. Calcutta 1825, especially Rule No. 3-
was composed of one missionary who acted as Secretary (and seldom had time to do much else), the Bishop or Archdeacon, who acted as Chairman, and a number of lay
18 supporters and clergy other than missionaries.
The Calcutta C.M.S. missionaries who constantly mixed with missionaries of other societies, who were
entrusted with greater freedom and responsibility, were 19
particularly discontented and, in 1844, mainly as a result of their protests, the C.M.S.Parent Committee ruled that its Bengal missionaries should hold confer
ences at least twice yearly "in order more regularly and fully to bring the information and judgment of the Missionaries to bear on the proceedings of their
respective districts.'1 It was also ruled that the reports of these conferences should be sent to the Corresponding Committee and that the Committee should, in any case, consult the missionaries on all "material"
20
questions before recording their final decision. The first conference of Bengal C.M.S* missionaries organized as a result of the new regulations was held at Krishnagar
18. C.M.S. Calcutta Corresponding Committee, Proceed
ings for 1840; E.Stock, vol.I, p. 192; C.M.S.
Committee Minutes, 19 January 1830, 25 July 1844.
19. C.M.S. Calcutta Corresponding Committee, Proceed
ings, 21 March 1844; CI1/M9 Menge to Innes, 3 April 1844.
20. C.M.S. Committee Minutes, 25 July 1844.
in February 1845. Thereafter, conferences were held two 21
or three times yearly.
In 1840, there were perhaps between 80 and 90 European Protestant missionaries, assisted by a large number of Bengali preachers and teachers, working in
22
the Presidency. All five societies were active in Calcutta and all except the Scottish missionary society had converts in nearby villages. The C.M.S., L.M.S. and B.M.S. had mission stations further away in other parts
of the Bengal Presidency — the C.M.S. being particularly active in the Krishnagar district (where there was a
decided movement in favour of Christianity) and the B.M.S.
23 concentrating much of its attention on East Bengal.
The C.M.S. probably had the largest number of converts, 24 there being about 4,200 in northern India in 1840.
The Baptists reported in 1842, that 478 of their converts
25
in northern India were church members. In 1841, there were about 1,111 converts and 1,300 catecumens (those under instruction for baptism) in connection with the
21. C.M.S. CIl/04/4/1 Bengal District Conference .. Reports, February 1845 etc.
22. Missionary Register. April 1841, p.197; B.M. S .., C.M.S. » S.P.G-.. L.M.S. . Annual Reports. 1841.
23. Missionary Register. April 1841, pp. 180-183;
B.M.S.. C.M.S.. S.P.G-.. L.M.S. . Annual Reports.
1841; J. Mullens Revised Statistics of Missions in India and Ceylon, Calcutta 1852.
24. Missionary Register. April 1841, p.183; J.Mullens Revised Statistics of Missions in India and Ceylon , Calcutta 1852,
25. B.M.S. Annual Report. 1842, p.28.
I I
|
2126
S.P.G. in Bengal, and, in 1841, the L.M.S, reported that "the number of Hindoo Christians in fellowship with the churches, and of inquirers or candidates for that
27
privilege” in the Presidency was "about 1,000.” The Church of Scotland had comparatively few converts, but these were generally well educated and distinguished men.
Many Bengal missionaries, particularly those
stationed in rural areas, in a relatively stable environ
ment, were content to continue the well worn methods of evangelism through elementary vernacular education,
vernacular preaching and the distribution of books and tracts. But others, especially those working in and around Calcutta, were experimenting with a newer method of evangelism through higher education.in English,
developed successfully by Dr. Alexander Duff and the Scottish missionaries in the 1830's.
Duff was not the first missionary in Bengal or 28 in Calcutta to experiment with English education; he may not even have been the first to work out a system
atic coherent philosophy of evangelism based upon it, but, what was important, was that his particular type of English education succeeded whereas other methods of English education failed.
26. S.P.G. Annual Report. 1842, p.LXX.
27. L.M.S. Annual Report. 1841, P*13.
28. G.Smith The Life of Alexander Duff, vol.I, p.102.
Duff's method was developed partly in response to the changing social conditions he found on his arrival in Calcutta in 1830. The growth of trade and commerce and the introduction of the Permanent Settlement was giving rise to an Indian aristocracv based on wealth
29
as well as on birth, and the introduction of Western ideas was undermining long established customs and religious beliefs, creating what one missionary aptly
30
described as "a spirit of restless, unceasing inquiry".
The main lines of the Hindu reaction to this social change and the impact of Western ideas was al
ready apparent. Many were thoroughly alarmed, rallied in support of orthodox Hinduism and were determined to
31
preserve the social and religious status quo. Others attempted to soften the impact of the new ideas by re
interpreting Hinduism in the light of contemporary know
ledge and criticism. They were religious and social reformers, drew inspiration from the teachings of Ram Mohan Roy and were mostly members or supporters of the Brahme Samaj, founded by him as the Brahma Sabha in
32
1828, Ram Mohan Roy who was probably influenced by
29. A.P.S.Ahmed The Development of Public Opinion in Bengal. 1818-1835. Doctoral Thesis, University of London 1961, Chapter I.
30. ibid., Chapter II; Missionary Register. 1834, p.183.
31. Ahmed, pp. 58-68; U.S.Bose The Indian Awakening and Bengal, pp. 34-37.
32. Ahmed, pp. 67-84; Bose, pp. 13-20; J.H.Farquhar Modern Religious Movements in India, Hew York 1915, pp. 34-35.
33
both Muslim and Christian ideas, held that Hinduism had become corrupted, was once a pure monotheistic
34 religion and should be restored to its original "purity".
He and his followers not only rejected idolatry, but also frowned on caste distinctions and opposed such practices
35 as sati.
36
Then there were the radicals. They were strong
ly entrenched in the Hindu College (founded in 1817) where they came under the influence of the brilliant young Henry Derozio, who developed a spirit of criticism and independent enquiry among them. The radicals
organized their own clubs and debating societies and published a number of journals so as to disseminate
37
their ideas. They zealously studied the writings of eighteenth century rational philosophers such as
Locke, Hume and Paine and developed sceptical attitudes 38
towards religion. They even criticised Ram Mohan Roy and-his followers and, because of their outspoken
attacks on orthodox Hinduism in particular, inflamed Bengali public opinion against them, were bitterly
39
denounced and subjected to persecution. One of the
33. Ahmed, pp.72-73; Bose, p.6; Parquhar, pp.32-33*
34. Parquhar, p.35.
35. Ahmed, pp.81-84; Bose. p.20.
36. Ahmed, pp.85-104; Bose, pp.37-54.
37. Ahmed,_p,86* Bose, pp.46-48.
38.. Bose, pp.41-42.
39. Bose, p.42; Ahmed, pp.90-100.
brahman, Krishna Mohan Bannerjea, who edited an English journal called the Enquirer and who, together with Mohesh Chunder Ghose, a student of the Hindu College, was con-
40 verted to Christianity by Dr. Duff in 1832.
It was generally understood that Dr. Duff would establish an institution or college for higher education
"specially for the training of native teachers and 41
preachers". He was well aware that European mission
aries by themselves could never hope to evangelise the whole of India and hoped that, by giving converts a highly specialized Christian education and training, to put into practice a system which he later described as
"the indirect method of imparting that life and strength to the few, which will at once impel and enable them to
42
exert a potent influence over the many." In fact, he attempted to apply the filtration theory of education, already popular among Government officials, to
Christian missions.
But before he could produce well trained preachers and teachers anxious to communicate the Gospel, he had first to convert them to Christianity and, hence, his own primary and immediate task was evangelism. Up to
40. Bose, pp.45-46; G.Smith, vol.I, pp.153-162.
41. A, Duff India and India Missions. Edinburgh 1839, P.490.
42. ibid., p 301.
this time, the great majority of Christian converts were drawn from the lower castes. But Dr. Duff was determined to convert men from among the higher castes, radicals and others, who because of their superior
education and/or social position would naturally find
it easier to impress and influence their fellow countrymen.
Ee was firmly convinced of the value of con
centrating missionary effort in strategic areas and, disregarding explicit instructions from his home
committee, chose Calcutta as the centre for his ex- 45
periment. In spite of opposition from among Protest
ant missionaries who generally stressed the value and importance of elementary education in the vernacular,
4-4 he decided to make English the medium of instruction.
He realized that schools giving an education in Bengali attracted only the lower classes and he believed that higher education in English would attract a better class
of students who would be anxiously competing for higher 45
and more lucrative Government positions. He also felt that English was vastly superior to Bengali and Sanskrit as "the best and amplest channel for speedily letting in
46
the full stream of European knowledge.” He intended
43* A.Duff India and India Missions, pp.503-505;
G.Smith, vol.I, pp.86-87.
44. A.Duff India and India Missions, pp.523-524;
G.Smith, vol.I, pp.122-124.
45* A.Duff India and India Missions.pp.514-525.
46. ibid., p.518.
to teach a wide range of secular subjects including Western science and hoped that this European knowledge, by overthrowing the "false” scientific and other secular ideas bound up with Hinduism, would gradually undermine his students* faith in the authority of the Hindu
scriptures and prepare their minds for the eventual 47
acceptance of Christianity.
With the help of Ram Mohan Roy, Duff procured a hall and his first students. He began teaching them at an elementary level in July 1830. His teaching
48 methods based on the Scottish "intellectual system”,
excited a great deal of interest among his students and his reputation quickly spread throughout the Bengali
49
community. Assistant teachers were procured and students enrolled in such large numbers that Duff was able to adopt selective methods.
The success of his College effectively silenced 50
most of Duff's European critics and, after the first public examinations and conversions to Christianity ,
47. A.Duff India and India Missions, pp.556-568.
48. The special object of this method, which was some
times called the Socratic or interrogatory system, as teaching was carried out mainly by a series of questions, was to develop the intellectual powers of the pupils and not merely to communicate inform ation. /Dal Behari Day Recollections of Alexander Duff P.P.. LL.D.. and the Mission College which he founded in Calcutta. London 1879? pp.118-123^/
49. G.Smith, vol.I, pp.124-128.
50. ibid., vol.I, pp.130-131; A.Duff, India and India Missions, pp.581-585.
missionary opinion reacted strongly in favour of his system. In Calcutta the L.M.S. founded an institution
51
at Bhowanipur, in 1837, modelled on his College and,
in about 1839, the Baptists opened a similar institution 52
at Intally. By 1840, missionaries all over India were copying his method* "How numerous” . wrote G-.M.Trevelyan,
"are the instances in which visitors to the General Assembly's celebrated Academy /Duff's College7 have
caught the spirit of the plan; and been induced, on their return to their respective districts, to form the
53 nucleus of similar Institutions!"
The new emphasis on higher education in English inevitably stirred up discussion and even controversy about the value of the more traditional missionary methods. The relative merits of preaching and educat-
54
ion were hotly debated; the effectiveness of mere 55
elementary education was seriously questioned and vernacular schools in and around Calcutta, with the
51. R.Lovett The History of the London Missionary Society. 1795-1895. London 1899, vol.II, p.173*
52. E.B.Underhill The Life of the Rev. John Wenger, pp.-99-100; F.A.Cox History of the Baptist Mission
ary Society, vol.II, pp.294-297.
53- A.Duff India and India Missions, p.586; G.Smith, vol.I, p.131; T.Smith Men Worth Remembering:
Alexander Duff. London 1883, p.42.
54- C.C.O.. vol.Ill, July 1834, pp.320-321; C.M.S.
CIl/0185/1 Long to Coates, 15 October 1842;
Calcutta Christian Intelligencer. November 1842, pp.512-518; G.Smith, vol.I, p.170,
55- C.C.O., vol.II, June 1833, pp.257-266.
exception of those connected with village congregations, 56
were "almost everywhere given up," Finally, the
success of Duff's experiment affected ideas of theolog
ical education and influenced missionaries more in favour of training Bengali preachers and teachers through English, The Corresponding Committee of the C.M,S., particularly impressed by Duff's example, decided in 1834 to establish a "Head Seminary" in Calcutta for the instruction of Bengali preachers and
57
teachers through English and, by 1840, there was a strong feeling among the Bengal missionaries in
general that preachers and teachers should be trained 58 through this medium rather than through the vernacular.
Dr. Duff made a powerful impression on almost all the Evangelical missionaries and it was partly
through his efforts that the Calcutta Missionary Confer
ence, founded a few years before his arrival, became a widely respected and influential organization. The
Conference developed out of an informal gathering of Evangelical missionaries who met occasionally at the house of the Rev. William Pearce, one of the Baptist
59
missionaries, in 1828. Anglican missionaries (those
56. C.C.O., vol.XVIII, February 1849? p.81.
57. C.M.S. CI1/M6 Calcutta Corresponding Committee, Minute, 16 October 1834-
58. C.C.O.. vol.IX, September 1840, pp.531-535.
59. G-.GrOgerly The Pioneers: A Narrative of facts
connected with early Christian Missions in Bengal, London 1871, p.282; G-.Smith, vol.I, p.165.
29
belonging to the C.M.S.) Baptist, Independent and Presbyterian missionaries all living in and around Calcutta took part in proceedings and, in the 1850fs the Conference contained between twenty and thirty
60
members. Meetings were held on Tuesday after the first Sunday in each month, at the house of one of the missionaries, usually in rotation. The day began with a service followed by breakfast, and the missionaries
61
settled down to business at 9 o 1clock. MThe object of the Conference,1’ wrote the Rev. Gogerly of the L.M.S.,
”is to promote mutual good will; to report on the progress of the different Missions; to receive and impart counsel; to give encouragement in cases of trial and difficulty; and to discuss such subjects as relate to the general interests of Christianity in India. Many important topics are brought forward,”
he added, "concerning which there may be at first
considerable diversity of opinion; but on which, after candid and mutual explanations, the Conference generally
62
arrives at an unanimous decision.” A wide variety of questions discussed including the relative importance of various methods of evangelism, problems
60. C.C.O. , vol.XVIII, February 1849, pp.82-3;
J.Mullens A Brief Review of Ten Years’ Missionary Labour in India. London 1863. p.170.
61. Gogerly, p.283.
62. Gogerly, p.283.
relating to converts and the growth of indigenous churches, the social condition of the ryots, the
Government connection with Hindu temples, the laws of inheritance relating to converts and other important
63 public questions.
Members of the Conference not only received counsel and encouragement in their work, but developed a greater understanding of each other’s position and grew more closely together in unity: partly because of this, the Conference was able to bring greater influence to bear on public opinion and on Indian and British
64 Governments.
The Conference published its own monthly magazine, the Calcutta Christian Observer, which was edited
65
jointly by missionaries of different denominations. The first issue appeared in June 1832 and the magazine soon became established as the most catholic and influential missionary periodical in Bengal.
The missionaries also had their own denominational
63. A list of questions proposed for discussion from 1831 to 1865 at the Calcutta Missionary Conference was reprinted in C.C.O.. vol.XXXIII, April 1865, pp.179-195.
64. Gogerly, pp.283-284; J.Mullens A Brief Review of Ten Years’ Missionary Labour, pp.172-173.
65. G.Smith, vol.I, pp.227-229; T.Smith Men -forth Remembering, p.84; C.C.O., vol.XVIII, February
1849, p.83.
periodical publications. One of the best, of these was 66
the Anglican Calcutta Christian Intelligencer, which, under the Rev. Cuthbert in the 1850’s, gradually became the organ of the C.M.S. missionaries. The L.M.S.mission
aries published a weekly newspaper called the Calcutta 67
Christian Advocate, the Baptists the monthly Oriental Baptist and, after the disruption of the Scottish
churches, the Free Church missionaries the Free 68
Churchman.
66. T.Smith Men Worth Remembering, p.85.
67- C.C.O., vol.XVIII, Februaiy 1849* p.85 68. ibid., p.85.
CHAPTER I
James Long: Background, Education and Early Years in Bengal, 1815 - 1850
1
James Long was born on 3 June 1815 (the same year as the battle of Waterloo) in southern Ireland — probably
2
in Cork, His father, who signed himself as John Long 3
"Gentleman" on James' marriage certificate in 1848,
appears to have had at least four children — a daughter and three sons. One son, Edward, became a Captain in
the Merchant Service and the other tvro, James and Mortlock, became Protestant ministers — James, an Evangelical
missionary of the Church of England, and Mortlock, a Wesleyan minister who, at the time of James' death in
4 1887, was living in Tranmore, County Waterford.
James, who may well have been accompanying his father, spent part of his early life in Russia, a country
1. C.M.S. Committee Minutes, 1 February 1839.
2. This information was supplied by Miss Jean Priest who was living in Western Australia in 1961 and is descended from Captain Edward Long, a brother of James.
3. J.Long Marriage Certificate, 10 June 1848. (Somerset House).
4. Grant of Letters of Administration of the R e v • James Long to the Rev. Mortlock Long, 3 September
;1887 (Somerset House).
35
which he always found interesting and revisited in later 5
life. He spent six years in an endowed classical school, probably in southern Ireland, where, "besides all the
branches of a liberal education," he studied "the works of Virgil, Sallust, ^ference, Juvenal, Livy, Horace,
6
Lucian, Homer and Xenophon". At some later date he entered Dublin University, but does not appear to have
7 taken a degree.
He then became a teacher and,when he offered his services to the C.M.S. in 1838, was engaged as a tutor in "a gentleman's family" and was also teaching classics
8
in a boarding school. He was receiving £300 p.a. some of which, as he later explained, "curates would have been glad to accept", and he was given sufficient leisure for
9 fairly extensive reading.
His linguistic ability is clearly apparent and his interest in languages was probably stimulated by his early
5. The Academy. 9 Aj^ril 1887; J.Long A Visit to Russia in 1 Ql6 , London /1 876.7-
6. C.M.S. C/AC3 Long to Jowett, 12 October 1838.
7. ibid.; C.M.S.Papers on India, vol.I. (An Appeal to our Universities - Appendix); C.h.S.CIl/0185/151 Long's Reply to Osburn's charges, 21 March 1849.
8. C.M.S. Gr/AC'5 Long to Jowett, 12 October 1838; C.M.S.
Committee Minutes, 8 October 1838.
9. C.M.S. G/AC3 Long to Jowett, 12 October 1838;
CIl/0185/151 Long's Reply to Osburn's charges, 21"March 1849.
travel, as well as by his classical training. "I find great pleasure in the study of languages”, he wrote in
10
October 1838. One of his referees, supporting his
application for service as a missionary with the C.M.S., noted his "great facility for Languages'1 and explained that he was "well acquainted" with Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German,
French and Italian and had "some knowledge" of Portuguese.
11
Spanish and Dutch. Long hoped that his linguistic
knowledge and understanding would prove a valuable asset in
12
missionary activity and it was, in fact, this ability which helps to explain his later achievements in the field of Bengali vernacular literature and vernacular education.
The Methodists and Anglican Evangelicals had been 13
active in southern Ireland for many years and hence it is not surprising that James Long was an Evangelical. Like other Evangelicals he emphasized "the entire and original depravity of man"; he believed in man's "total inability to save himself" and that his salvation, which "from first to last is all of grace", is obtained through faith" in the
10. C.M.S. G/AC3 Long to Jowett, 12 October 1833.
11. C.M.S’. Committee Minutes (Clerical Sub-Committee) 8 October 1838.
12. C.M.S. G/AC3 Long to Jowett, 12 October 1838.
13* E.E.Bland How the Church Missionary Society Came to Ireland, Dublin 1935, Chapters I to IX.
imputed righteousness of Christ with the Spirit's operat- 14
ions." He also stressed the point that "the Essence of religion lies in its experimental truth" and that
"unless we find the main doctrines and precepts of religion exemplified in our own hearts and lives, the mere mental conviction of the benefit of religion is of
15 little moment."
He was a convinced Anglican, believing in the value of Episcopacy and holding that the "doctrines, ceremonies and forms of prayer" of the Church of England were "all without any exception based on the eternal truths of the
16
Bible." But like other Evangelicals within the Anglican Church, he felt a great deal of sympathy for Nonconformists,
17
and particularly for the Methodists — his brother's denomination. On the other hand, he also shared the Evangelical and Protestant Irish antipathy to Catholics, although he would probably not have agreed with Duff’s remark that "Popish idolatry" was "the most malignant form
14. C.M.S. G-/AC3 Long to Jowett, 12 October 1838} Murray (ed.) Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford 1933.
15. C.M.S. Gr/AC3 Long to Jowett, 12 October 1836.
16. ibid.; C.M.S. Committee Minutes (Clerical Sub- Committee) 8 October 1838.
17. M.M.S. MSS. Mysore 1858-1874, Long to Arthur, 21 February 1860.
18
of heathenism.” He held Catholicism "as guilty of idolatry as any of the worshippers of Krishna", but he believed that "enlightened" Catholics "seldom worship images, tho’ they pay respect to them as they would to statues," and criticised just as severely "the ration
alising Protestants of the Continent" who "adored 19 reason" and "idolise their own understanding."
Moreover, he did not react as strongly against anything in the Anglican Church which might savour of "Popery"
as did some of the other Anglican Evangelicals. He saw
"no harm in painted glass windows or a picture over the altar, in turning to the East in the Creed, in bowing at the name of Jesus and various other observances
20 allowed by Cranmer and Ridley."
Writing in October 1838, Long referred to his
conversion. "The G-racious Spirit", he wrote,"was pleased some years since to open my mind to the sense of the
dreadful corruption of my nature, he then drew my attention 21
to Calvary as the only hope of the sinner." As a result
18. C. of S. MSS. Duff to Gordon, 1 July 1846.
19. C.M.S. CI1/0185./151 Long’s reply to Osburnfs charges, 22 March 1849.
20. ibid.
21. C.M.S. G/AC3 Long to Jowett, 12 October 1838.
of this conversion and because he was an Anglican
Evangelical he offered himself for service as a mission
ary with the C.M.S. in September 1838. His motives in becoming a missionary seem to have been the same as those of other Evangelicals who were drawn to the mission field as a result of, and in grateful response to what they
22
believed was the love of Christ. "As Christ has brought to my view the vast importance of saving my own soul,"
wrote Long, "and assured he has equal love for others as for me, I would consider myself as most ungrateful to that Saviour if motives of worldly ease should hinder me from publishing to the perishing Heathen the grace that found
23
out even me." His love for others was, above all else, a concern for their spiritual condition. "The thought of 800 millions passing into eternity every 30 years without a ray of hope often overwhelms me..." he wrote, "as I ask myself the question am I doing my part to avert these dire
24
consequences." This sense of urgency so often apparent in the Methodist revival and in the preaching of
22. J.Van Den Berg Constrained by Jesusr Love (an inquiry into the motives of the missionary awakening in Oreat Britain in the period between 1698 and 1815) Kampen T 9 5 T — see especially pp.156-159*
23* C.M.S. G-/AC3 Long to Jowett, 12 October 1838.
24. ibid.
25
Evangelicals was sharpened in Long's case by his fervent 26
belief in "the wrath to come".
But, in spite of the urgency of the task, Long did 27 not expect rapid or easy success in the mission field.
He was always a realist and this probably saved him from the disillusionment that affected at least one of his
28
missionary colleagues. Like some of the Evangelicals, 29
particularly those connected with the C.M.S., he was wary of the romantic attitude towards missions. In 1838 he
stated, for example, that there was "nothing romantic in the Missionarv work" and added that he viewed it as a life
30
of "unceasing toil and exertion". When writing from the mission field in April 1843 he again pointed out that "the
Romance of Missions must be done away with" and claimed that in England "the public mind... has contracted a morbid taste — pictures of the Sublime and Beautiful have en
tranced the mind instead of the sober realities of truth.
My own occupations possess much sameness of detail", he continued, "I have no narrative of encounters with tigers,
25. Van Den Berg, p.78; L.E.Blliott-Binns The Early Evayigeli cals; A Religious and Social Study, London
1953, p.387.
26. C.M.S. CIl/0185/33 Long to Venn, 18 August 1854.
27. C.M.S. CIl/0185/1 Long to Coates, 15 October 1842.
28. The Rev. J.Osborne. See, for example, Osborne's letter to Henry Venn /CIl/0218/2, 2 June 184^7 ^wo years before he resigned from the C.M.S. in 1847.
29. Van Den Berg, p.155.
30. C.M.S. G-/AC3 Long to Jowett, 12 October 1838.
persecutions from infuriated Brahmins, wanderings in the 31
jungle etc. to mention to you.”
After being interviewed and examined by the
Clerical Sub-Committee of the C.M.S., Long was accepted as a missionary candidate and sent to the Society's training college at Islington in November 1838, "with a view to its being considered whether Mr. Long might not then go out to Calcutta in order to be placed in charge of the Head
32
Seminary there.” There were then about twenty-four
other students in residence at Islington and two of these, the Rev.J.Innes, the senior student, and J.Osborne, were later associated with Long in Calcutta. Nine of the students were ordained, others were in training for deacon's orders and others for work as lay preachers in
33
various parts of the mission field. The C.M.S.
regulations encouraged the Principal of the College, the Rev.J.N.Pearson and the College Tutor to regard the
students as a family, to fraternize with them and to give 34
them as much individual assistance as possible.
31. C.M.S. CIl/0185/2 Long to Parent Committee, 13 April 1843.
32. C.M.S.Committee Minutes (Clerical Sub-Committee) 16, 30 October, 6 November 1838, 1 February 1839*
33. C.M.S. Committee Minutes (Principal's Report) 1 February 1839.
34. Proceedings of the C.M.S., 1829-30. Appendix III.
Regulations of the C.M.S.Institution at Islington.
Discipline in the College, which was to some extent regulated by the senior students, was of "no ordinary
35
strictness”. The Principal attended to the students' theological studies and the Tutor to their literary and
36
scientific education. Academic standards among the students varied greatly — some of the men having had a university education, while others needed coaching at an elementary level in subjects like Arithmetic and English
37 Expression.
While most of the students, including Long, studied a wide range of subjects, including the Bible, Greek, Latin and Hebrew, Logic and Chemistry, very little in the course
38 was strictly related to work in the mission field. In fact, there was practically nothing in the curriculum which would indicate that Islington was a missionary and not an ordinary theological college. During Long's period of residence there do not appear to have been any classes studying Oriental or African languages or non-Christian religions. There was little if any examination of
conditions in the mission field and no classes discussing 39
missionary strategy.
35* C.M.S.Committee Minutes, 24 April 1840.
36. Proceedings of the C.M.S.. 1829-30, Appendix III.
37. C.M.S.Committee Minutes, 1 February, 21 March,
26 July, 25 October 1839; 4 February, 24 April 1840.
38. ibid.
39. ibid.
In a letter to the C.M.3.Committee, written the day before Long entered the College, the Principal (the Rev. Pearson) explained that he seemed to be a man "of considerable energys capable of sedentary labours" and that his reading had been "considerable"; but at the same time Pearson compared him unfavourably with another of his students, Edward Rogers, whom the Committee were also
contemplating sending to Calcutta. Although in Pearson's opinion Long was the better scholar, Rogers was "his
superior in manners, and probably in ripeness of mind and 40
practical judgment." In another letter, written ten days later, Pearson argued that the Rev. J.Innes was already "a decidedly better man, on the whole, for
4.1
Calcutta", than Long would be six months later. Yet when he retired in the following year, Pearson left his success
or, the Rev. C.F.Child, in no doubt about Long's abilities.
"Long", he is reported to have said, "is a remarkable
fellow, undoubtedly clever and original. They tell me that he knows nine languages, but I am not prepared to vouch for the fact I" In his memoirs Child says he trembled at the thought of having such a pupil, but that he proved
42
"too sensible to give himself airs."
j
40. C.M.S.Committee Minutes, 20 November 1838.
41. ibid., 18 December 1838.
42. Quoted in Stock, vol.II, pp.76-77.
In March 1839 the Principal recommended Long and Osborne for deacon’s orders and, on 26 May, they were
43
ordained deacons by the Bishop of London, They were made priests in June 1840 and in July, before the full
Committee of the C.M.S., and in the presence of friends 44 and relatives, were given their final instructions.
Long's task was to assist the Rev. Innes in conducting 45
the Head Seminary at Calcutta. Ten days later he, the Rev. Osborne and a number of other C.M.S.missionaries and their wives embarked on board the 900 ton Plantagenet
46 which sailed for Calcutta the following day.
The journey via the Cape of Good Hope, took over four months — the Plantagenet arriving in Calcutta on
15 November 1840. "Through G o d ’s goodness we all arrived safely at this place yesterday and were truly glad to set foot on the shores of India after our long voyage", wrote the Rev. Osborne on the sixteenth. "We left the Cape on the 23rd of Sept. and came up with the Pilot brig at the Sand-heads on the 12th instant," he continued. "The
weather has been remarkably fine, and our health good, so
43* C.M.3.Committee Minutes, 19 March 1839; C.M.R. , vol.X, May 1839> p.112.
44. C.M.R., vol.XI, June 1840, p.135? July 1840,
pp.158-1 59; C.M.S.Committee Minutes, 3 July 1840.
45. C.M.S. CI1/M12 Long to Cuthbert, 22 October 1849;
CIl/0185/32 Long to Parent Committee, July 1854.
46. C .M.R., vol.XI, July 1840, p.159; Englishman.
23 December 1840.
that we have been able to pursue our Bengali & other
studies, and to have our Lord's day services very regular
ly. We have on the whole enjoyed our voyage, although of course there are trials which every one must expect to meet with. The first sight of India and the Natives was most interesting to me, and I rejoice greatly in the work
47 to which I have set my hand... M
When Long arrived at the C.M.S. headquarters at Mirzapur, near the centre of the city, he found that plans for the C.M.S. Head Seminary had, at least temporarily
48
fallen through. There had been some staffing diffcult- . 49
ies and the scheme was opposed by the Bishop of Calcutta, Bishop Wilson, who feared that the new seminary would en
danger the existence and prosperity of Bishop's College 50
(conducted by missionaries of the 3.P.G.). The students became dissatisfied with the "strict economy" which, as a
51 matter of deliberate policy, was adopted in the seminary;
47. C.M.S. CIl/0218 Osborne to Venn, 16 November 1840;
Englishman. 16 November 1840.
48. C.M.S. CI1/M12 Long to Cuthbert, 22 October 1849.
49. C.M.S. CI1/M7 Chapman to Coates, 21 June 1837.
50. C.M.S. CIl/08/4/6 Bishop Wilson to Jowett, 9 March 1837; CI1/M7 Calcutta Corresponding Committee, Proceedings, 12 June 1837; C.M.S.Committee Minutes, 23 May 1837; CI1/K7 V/ybrow to Coates,
16 July 1838; CI1/M8 Calcutta Corresponding Committee, Proceedings, 14 May 1841.
51. C.M.S.CI1/M6 Calcutta Corresponding Committee, Minutes, 16 October 1834; C.M.S.Committee Minutes, 16 June 1835.
they soon became aware that the C.M,S..and S.P.Gr.
authorities were competing for them and decided to take advantage of the situation by demanding improved
conditions. The Corresponding Committee refused to give way and some of the students left. As the remainder con
tinued in a state of "constant grumbling and discontent"
and made little progress in their studies, it was decided 52
to send them back to their respective districts. However, the seminary building had been commenced and it was
resolved to re-establish the institution "on the first 55
favourable opportunity."
Owing to the failure of the seminary, Long was directed by the Calcutta Corresponding Committee to take
charge of the Society’s English (or Anglo-Vernacular)
school for non-Christian students on the Mirzapur premises, 54
"with a view to rendering it as efficient as possible."
This was one of the largest English schools connected with the C.M.S. in Bengal. But, although it was founded in 1823L, well before the similar type of schools in Calcutta conducted by the Scottish, Independent and Baptist
missionaries, it was not as big, it does not appear to
52. C.M.S. CI1/M7 Calcutta Corresponding Committee, Proceedings, 21 and 28 September 1837.
53* C.M.S. .CI1/M7 Calcutta Corresponding Committee, Proceedings, 21 September 1837.
54. C.M.S. CI1/M8 Calcutta Corresponding Committee, Proceedings, 19 November 1840.
have taken students to the same level, nor was it in such 55
a flourishing condition.
The school had, in fact, been showing marked signs of instability, . Attendance was lax and the school
56
population varied considerably at different periods. The staffing problem was serious. The school suffered from frequent changes in its superintendents (there were at least five in the six years immediately preceding Long's
57
appointment) and in this situation there could be little continuity or settled development of the educational pro
gramme. Finally, although the object of the school seems to have been evangelism, only about one student had been
55. Missionary Register, 1841, p.198; B .M .S . Annual Renort 1841, p.12; F.A.Cox History of the Baptist Missionary Society, vol.II, pp.294-297; Calcutta Christian Intelligencer, August 1852, p.295.
56. In 1830, for example, there were about 110 pupils in daily attendance, but, by the end of 1831, this
number had dropped to 60 — partly it was argued, because of the growing competition from other Anglo- vernacular schools established in the area. Under
the Rev. K.M.Bannerjea, however, the school enjoyed a period of prosperity and, in 1835, the number of pupils in daily attendance rose to 160. But, by
1838, the number had again dropped — this time to 120. r C.M.R.. vol.Ill, August 1832, p.162; C.M.R., vol.V, January 1834, p.l; C.M.S. CIl/0253/14 Sandys to Parent Committee, 13 November 1838JJ7
57. C.M.R,. vol.V, January 1834, p.l; C.M.R.t vol.VIII, February 1836, p.28; C.M.S. C H / O253/T4 Sandys to Parent Committee, 13 November 1838; CIl/0253/16 Sandys to Jowett, 25 October 1839; CIl/0255/17 Sandys to Jowett, 14 March 1840.
converted to Christianity since its foundation eighteen 58
years before.
In spite of Long’s enthusiasm for the training of Bengali preachers, and in spite of the sudden change in his plans, he was by no means dissatisfied with his new
task as superintendent. "I feel quite happy in my work", he wrote in October 1842, "I believe I can never be happier
59
in this world than I am now in Calcutta." He was, in fact, thoroughly convinced of the important part English
60
education could play in evangelism. He greatly admired 61
Dr. Duff and was strongly influenced by his educational ideas. He read Duff’s India and India Missions, published
62
in 1859? and associated more with him than with his C.M.S.
colleagues. "I have always lived in unity and harmony with our Missionaries Sandys and Osborne", he wrote in 1846,
"but I have been always more intimate with Dr. Duff of the Scotch Church — simply because we agree so thoroughly in our views as to the bearing of education on Missions, besides our natural temperaments and general opinions coincide to a great extent — I see Dr. Duff almost every week at his house", he added, "and am more intimate with him than with
63 any Missionary in Calcutta."
58. C.M.S. C/ll/0185/126 Annual Report 1846.
59. C.M.S. CIl/0185/1 Long to Coates, 15 October 1842.
60. C.M.S. CIl/0185/2 Long to Parent Committee, 13 April 1843.
61 . ibid.
62. C.M.S. CIl/0185/1 Long to Coates, 15 .October 1842.
63. C.M.S. CIl/0185/17 Long to Venn, 7 November 1846.
47 Long was inclined to side with Duff and the
Scottish missionaries in favour of education against some of the other Bengal missionaries who felt that preaching
64
was of greater importance* Those who favoured preaching argued that it was a method adopted by the apostles and was thoroughly scriptural; and while, in their opinion, preaching was "God's ordained instrument for the salvation
65
of the world" education was "contrary to apostolic 66
example." It was also argued that few converts were made through education, that teaching made very little impression
67 and that what was acquired at school was lost in after life.
Those who favoured education also stressed the importance of results and they wondered how many converts
68
had been made from preachingl In Long's opinion, the Bengali adult mind was "most lethargic — nearly insensible to religious impressions" and hence ordinary preaching had
69
little effect. Like Duff, he was willing to admit that preaching might be useful in certain situations, but it was
"not so useful as preaching in schools," or, in other words, as "the oral declaration of the Gospel to the pupils while
64. C.M.S. CIl/0185/1 Long to Coates, 15 October 1842.
65. Calcutta Christian Intelligencer. November 1842, p.512.
66. A.Duff India and India Missions, p.353*
67. Calcutta Christian Intelligencer. November 1842, pp.512-518.
68. ibid., p.513.
69. C.M.R.. vol.XIV, April 1843, p.87; C.M.S.Cll/0185/4.
Long to Parent Committee, 26 August 1845.
